International Criminal Court to investigate British troops over 'abuse of detainees'

The International Criminal Court is to investigate whether British forces in Iraq systematically abused detainees.

After being handed a dossier on alleged abuse by a British law firm, the court's prosecutor Fatou Bensouda confirmed she would be staging a "preliminary examination" of the evidence.

The move represents the first step towards a formal inquiry into the allegations.

Officials admitted the case could hang over the country for years to come, but the government insisted it "completely rejects" the claims.

An investigation will be conducted by the court in The Hague, which was set up to probe war crimes and crimes against humanity.

British sources said they were confident the inquiry would not progress beyond initial stages and said UK authorities were conducting their own investigation.

A statement on the court's website said that Mrs Bensouda had decided to re-open a preliminary examination previously concluded in 2006 after the law firm, Public Interest Lawyers, and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights - a German human rights organisation - submitted fresh information earlier this year.

Public Interest Lawyers said they had compiled thousands of allegations of abuse amounting to "war crimes of torture" or to "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment".

They were said to include beatings, burning, electric shocks and mock executions as well as sexual assault and humiliation, including forced nakedness and forced or simulated sexual acts, with "clear patterns" emerging of the same techniques being used again and again.

"The new information received by the office alleges the responsibility of officials of the United Kingdom for war crimes involving systematic detainee abuse in Iraq from 2003 until 2008," the statement said.

"The re-opened preliminary examination will analyse, in particular, alleged crimes attributed to the armed forces of the United Kingdom deployed in Iraq between 2003 and 2008."

Attorney General Dominic Grieve said that he understood the importance of the prosecutor following "proper legal procedures" when complaints were made he would her officials with "whatever is necessary to demonstrate that British justice is following its proper course."

"The Government completely rejects the allegation that there was systematic abuse carried out by the British Armed Forces in Iraq. British troops are some of the best in the world and we expect them to operate to the highest standards, in line with both domestic and international law," he said.

"In my experience, the vast majority of our armed forces meet those expectations. Where allegations have been made that individuals may have broken those laws, they are being comprehensively investigated."

The Director of Service Prosecutions Andrew Cayley QC - who is responsible for prosecutions of service personnel - said was confident that the case would not move to a formal investigation as the UK was already conducting its own inquiry through the Iraq Historical Allegations Team (IHAT) established in 2010.

Under the Statute of Rome which established the ICC, the court can only intervene in cases where there is no effective investigation by the national authorities.

"If the ICC is satisfied that the United Kingdom is genuinely investigating these crimes, they will allow us to do that. They may go on monitoring us for a number years in respect of investigations and prosecutions but they will not intervene," he said.

"Of course in the end it is for the prosecutor of the ICC to determine this, but I am confident based on the work that I've seen that IHAT has been doing, that the court will find that these are genuine criminal investigations that are taking place and they won't take it any further."

However Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers dismissed the IHAT inquiries, saying that it was incapable of holding to account those at the top.

He told the BBC Radio 4 PM programme: "We are very concerned that people at the very highest level knew exactly what was going on in Iraq and chose to turn a blind eye or - worse - actually sanctioned it."

Former defence secretary Geoff Hoon and former armed forces minister Adam Ingram are among those named in the file submitted by the firm.

The prosecutor's office will now study the dossier alongside submissions from the British Government and other relevant bodies - a process that could take several years before a final decision is taken on whether to move to a full investigation.

"The preliminary examination is the first step in a process," Mr Cayley said. "The preliminary examinations can carry on for a very lengthy period. there have been preliminary examinations going on for years."

The IHAT, led by a former civilian police detective, is currently looking into 53 cases of alleged unlawful killing and a further 93 cases of alleged mistreatment.